Golf etiquette? Fuhgetaboutit

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Some in the crowd have shouted at Fred Funk by using his last name as an obscenity, and occasionally TV microphones have picked up something similar. “You suck,” has been directed at various golfers a few times, and that would turn heads at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.

That’s the way it is at times here, where playful banter has turned into Yankee Stadium bleacher taunts. According to Newsday, Tiger Woods was beginning his third round in the rain when a fan yelled at him: “We’re on Long Island, baby, where men are men! Put that umbrella down!”

Other spectators have booed when such things have been said, and some have walked away to separate themselves. But as fans lined up at the beer tent again Sunday, this behavior brings up a theory about Phil Mickelson and what he did in 2002.

He understood what was coming better than anyone. So he said wonderful things about the New York crowd, and he smiled and made eye contact, and he wanted the mob on his side.

Mickelson continued with the same tactic Sunday evening after finishing with four birdies in his last six holes to give the crowd something to scream about. Asked about the atmosphere, he said: “It’s awesome. The people here, it’s just incredible. It made the whole round so enjoyable, the whole week.”

Compare that to Tiger. “Well, they had a little bit to sip I think. They had plenty of time in that rain delay. And I think they took full advantage of it … they are fine. They are fine. As long as they can get all excited like that, it just is fine, just as long as you don’t yell when we are swinging, which the fans haven’t been. I mean, they have been great.”